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Wednesday, 24 February 2016

New Release: Jared's Heart (Darkfall Mountain Pack 5)

Blurb: Ten years ago, a drunk driver ran over Jared Hudson’s
family. Thanks to the intervention of the Darkfall Mountain Pack, Jared and his
sister became survivors, predators, and werewolves. A decade is plenty of time
for Jared to plot his vengeance. He’s digging two graves, his own and his
parent’s murderers, but it doesn’t matter. Jared plans to see this tale to the
end, even if it costs him his own life. The one thing Jared didn’t account for?
Falling in love with the man he swore to kill.

Bear shifter Matthias Jensen has
spent plenty of time behind bars. He’s balanced the scales. Paid plenty for his
penance, but it doesn’t seem enough. When a mouthy pup threatens to kill him,
Matt instantly recognizes Jared as his mate. He’s dreamed of begging for
forgiveness. Matthias thought he was ready to die for his sins, until he
realizes that there’s something else worth living for—a future with his
unexpected mate.

STORY EXCERPT

“So, tourist or visiting friends or family?” the
human beside him asked, curiously peeking at the letters Matthias clutched to
him. Stuffing back in his backpack, Matt decided to answer him.

“I’m seeing a very close…friend.” Was
friend the right word? Jared would certainly scoff at Matthias’s label, but
what else would Matthias call Jared? Normal folks didn’t usually bare the
contents of their souls to random strangers. Not especially the guy who
murdered their parents.

Catching sight of the “Welcome to
Darkfall” sign, Matthias’s heart started beating rapidly. When the bus stopped
at the station, Matt suddenly hesitated, old fears creeping back. He wasn’t
afraid to die, that much was certain, but seeing Jared made him apprehensive. What
the fuck? Matthias shouldn’t be acting like some nervous kid on his first date,
yet that was exactly the way he felt. He headed down the bus, and took a good
look around Darkfall. The bus stopped at what looked like the town proper.

Darkfall had a typical small town
feel to it. Charming single-story shops lined the street Matthias disembarked
on. He spotted a local grocer, an independently owned bookshop and a couple of
antique shops. Matthias’s bear told me the residents were a mix of human and
supernatural. His spine tingled, telling Matthias the paranormal locals were
checking him out. Remembering Jared telling him about the town’s recent
troubles and tangles with a fanatic group of human hunters, and before that,
with a killer and another animal group, Matthias understood why security was
tight.

Still, it wasn’t hard to imagine,
strolling these streets, his pup by his side. When the season turned cold,
Jared would lean close to his warmth, and Matthias would happily share his heat.

He didn’t need unwanted attention.
Jared knowing he was here was one thing. The leaders of the Darkfall pack, the
werewolf siblings that raised Jared and his sister would no doubt, kill him on
sight, because not all rumors were baseless. Matthias’s bear warned him then,
not of danger, but something else. Catching wind of a delicious scent, Matthias
sniffed the air, looking for the source. Jared, Matthias mused, was nearby. Hell,
he knew it, deep in his bones. What else explained the interest of his bear?

Turning, Matthias’s gaze ignored
the other passerby, solely focusing on the lean young man crossing the road. Same
blond hair and dark eyes as the man in the photograph, but seeing Jared in the
flesh shook Matthias up. Spurred his bear, who seldom showed interest in any
other human being after Marie, his first wife. Their gazes locked and he saw
Jared stumble, staring at him, knowing like he did. A strange magnetism
connected them, and Matthias didn’t resist the pull.

He walked, waiting for the moment
for surprise to change to something else. Fury. Jared’s tempting lips twisted,
a strange smile that felt out of place. A predator’s smile, reminding Matthias
it wasn’t a lost human boy he looked at, but a young wolf raised on hate. They
stopped, inches from each other.

“Matthias, you look exactly like
your picture.”

Matthias couldn’t process the
words immediately. Everything felt and seemed so surreal, especially the sound
of Jared’s voice. He still heard it sometimes, Jared’s child-like accusatory
voice, condemning Matthias as a coward.

He couldn’t sleep on the bus,
plagued by thoughts of what he would say and how Jared would react. Now, he
stood there, paralyzed and speechless. The longer they stood staring at each
other, taking measure, the more Matthias sensed the anger in Jared. Not hot
enough to burn, but the cold lasting kind, one that lasted Jared through the
years.

You fucked me up so badly, I can’t
enjoy a normal relationship with another man, Jared once wrote. The selfish
part of Matthias liked that, and savored the fact Jared was in some perverted
way, irrevocably his. That the fates bound their lives together the moment his
truck crashed into their car.

Silently, Matthias willed Jared to
finish the deed. Would Jared pull out his weapon of choice, and end him here on
the street? Would he lure Matthias to some dark alleyway, and then slit his
throat, making sure no one would ever find his corpse? What’s your next move,
Jared?

The twisted part of Matthias didn’t
want to die though. He wanted to find out more, to learn what made Jared tick. Jared
could have done the deed any moment, but he didn’t. He waited, maybe for
Matthias to make the first move, to rewrite the script that damned both of
their souls from the start.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?”
Jared demanded. There was an edge to his words. His pupils gleamed amber,
wrestling control with his beast. Matthias took a step forward. Jared
hesitantly took a step back. This dancing back and forth seemed ridiculous
really.

“Only this.” Matthias moved, too
fast for Jared to anticipate.

He saw Jared tense when Matthias
closed his hand over the back of his neck, drawing him near. One second of
hesitation might make Matthias lose his momentum and his recklessness. Christ,
he couldn’t remember the last time he kissed anyone. He claimed Jared’s lips,
all hunger and need. Matthias bit and nipped, kissed like he fucked, rough and
without care. Heat flooded between them. Electricity sparked between their
bodies and their animals knew with certainty, one damning truth. Mine. Yours. No
one else’s.

ADULT EXCERPT

When Jared pulled back, his eyes
were wide, his lips slightly parted. His wolf wanted more, and according to his
hard dick, so did his human half. “Stop fighting this.”

“What is this, Jared, a last fuck
or a final hurrah before the end?” Matthias asked.

Would Matthias refuse Jared again,
if he said he no longer knew what to do? Fuck that. Jared lied through his
teeth. “Yes. You owe it to me, to us.”

Matthias gave him a shaky laugh. “I
paid my dues, and did my time, pup.”

“But you wrote back. You fucking
flirted with me though those letters. We’re like druggies, unable to shake off
our addiction. One fuck, Matthias. Cure us both of this obsession.”

Another lie. Jared seemed to be
able to come up with them without effort. He didn’t want this, his bantering
with Matthias to end. Weren’t hate and love the same side of the same coin?
Part of Matthias’s reasoning made sense, but Jared didn’t care about the right
thing anymore.

“I hope you don’t regret this,
pup,” Matthias warned. The werebear didn’t need any more convincing. The next
thing Jared knew, Matthias switched their places. Jared’s back dug against
grass and ground, and Jared became aware of the delicious press of Matthias’s
body above him, straddling him.

“Don’t back out now, bear,” Jared
said.

Matthias barked out a harsh laugh.
“Fuck, pup. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted this. How often I imagine you
beneath me, just like this, but—”

“But nothing, bear.” Jared reached
for Matthias’s dick between their bodies. Christ, Matthias’s cock was massive. He
didn’t think he had anything so large in him. Then again, sex had only been
distraction to Jared. A convenient way to forget about the only man he wanted,
but Matthias was right in front of him now. Pulse racing, Jared gazed at the
wounded man in front of him. Matthias’s eyes showed a soul, cracked and broken,
same as his. Nothing ever felt so fucking right and perfect.

Matthias groaned as Jared glided
his fist up and down, cock head to base with slow halting motions, designed to
torment.

“Did you imagine taming me, and
the moment I’d choose to yield?” Jared whispered against his ear, making
Matthias growl.

“Fuck, Jared.” That was all
Matthias said. His assent. Matthias closed a large hand over Jared’s wrist,
lifting Jared’s fingers, licking each one, tasting himself on Jared. Staring,
Jared became stunned at the gesture, and by how fucking aroused he got at the
sight. One handed, Matthias restrained Jared’s wrists and tugged them above his
head, effective as any restraint.

“What are you doing?” Jared asked,
losing his composure.

Matthias silenced him with another
rough kiss, his mouth a hot vacuum against the side of Jared’s neck. Fixated on
the spot between shoulder and neck, Matthias licked at the tiny bit of flesh. Any
shifter knew what that place meant—the perfect spot to put a mating mark. Heart
thudding, Jared didn’t protest. He held his breath, half dreading, half daring
Matthias to make the decision for them. That way, Jared didn’t need to feel
guilty for wanting his parents’ murderer, for the man responsible for turning
Jane and he from human to monster.

Looking pained, Matthias lifted
his head from the spot to answer him. “You said I can do whatever I want.”

“I did,” Jared whispered,
frightened now of his attraction to Matthias and what it implied.

He knew with some shame, he’d take
whatever Matthias wanted to give. Worse, he’d beg for more. Matthias continued
pelting hot kisses down his throat, releasing his hands. Jared threaded his
fingers into Matthias’s short hair, tugging, but the werebear didn’t seem to
mind. Closing his mouth over Jared’s left nipple, Matthias sealed the hardening
bud with heat. Matthias’s gaze pinned his, devouring Jared’s every reaction. Fuck,
but that was hot.

Feeling the slight edge of teeth,
Jared groaned when Matthias bit down, leaving an imprint of his teeth on the
nipple. Matthias moved on to his right, leaving an identical souvenir. It didn’t
take for Jared to become aware of Matthias’s impressive dick, pressing up
against his belly. Noticing Jared’s gaze, Matthias flashed him a lazy smile.

“You want my cock, pup?”

Jared could imagine wrapping his
mouth around that meaty dick even before Matthias lifted himself and straddled
his face. He saw the careful way Matthias positioned himself those, nudging his
glistening cock head between Jared’s lips. Opening his jaws wider, Jared
accepted his length. He gagged at first, unused to the size, but Matthias
patiently waited for Jared. Sucking softly, Jared took Matthias’s dick in,
marveling at the way Matthias groaned, the silky texture of his groin stretched
over hard steel.